Beca stares out the window trying to make out the blurred shapes. It is increasingly difficult because of the speed they are traveling and the minimal amount of light the moon is casting on the fields. Beca is more than a little surprised by how fast and, frankly, scary the uptight blonde drives. Luckily for them, Beca's two new companions choose to travel back roads as well, meaning the possibility of wrecking is incredibly lower.
The drive has felt infinitely longer than their original as a group. The unanswered questions Beca's asked are hanging in the air, making it thick. They have been on the road for at least five hours and the only thing filling the awkwardly quiet vehicle is Chloe's singing. Beca thought that Jesse was impressive with how long he could sing, but this redhead puts her friend to shame. Not that she's complaining. She's liked almost every song Chloe's played and the fact that Beca could listen to the redhead sing the phone book and enjoy it doesn't hurt either.
Beca is pulled from her game of shape figuring by the sound of Jesse snoring. Once they got in the car, her friend scarfed down three bags of chips, a candy bar, and then promptly fell asleep. Like Beca's done eight previous times, she sends an elbow lightly into the Jesse's ribs. He jolts awake and then looks over at her, his tired, blurry eyes silted in anger. He elbows her back and then Beca makes a mean face punching at him. They get into one of their typical, she punches he punches fights only to be broken out of their battle by the tired voice of the controlling blonde.
"Oh my god, could you two not. This is laterally like the sixth time you guys have done that and its getting aca-annoying."
Beca stifles a laugh at the blonde's choice of words. She remembers Chloe saying something about a cappella in the vomit story, but Beca hadn't really payed mind to it. The whole concept of a cappella is funny to the brunette, and she didn't really think people actually did it. Something about people voluntarily participating in organized nerd signing is too ridiculous for her to grasp.
Jesse just huffs, mumbling something about Aubrey having a stick up her ass, while rolling his eyes. He is not in the mood for her attitude. They are all on edge; tired and hungry after their big throw down. The chips and candy bars Beca snagged for them could only hold them off for so long.
"Oh that's really nice." Aubrey starts. "You would be stranded, car-less, in some hodunk town getting chainsaw massacred or something, if it weren't for me." The blonde is clearly not amused by the brunette boy's joke.
"Yah, well this isn't Texas, but nice try princess." Jesse shoots back, trying not to nerd out over her movie reference.
The remark surprises Beca. Jesse is typically a very down to earth, fun and easy going. It isn't like him to seriously argue with anyone, or even use a harsh tone. Especially not with people they have just met. She knows she needs to diffuse the situation, but she can't seem to bring herself to do it. She also can't seem to hide the smile on her face when she sees the how mad it made the blonde. Beca hears a snort from the front passenger seat and knows its Chloe trying to hold back laughter. This only makes Aubrey angrier.
"Do not call me princess." Aubrey seethes, hands tightening on the wheel. Beca can sense that the blonde's reached her boiling point; that she should jump in but there's a part of her that doesn't really care. Beca kind of just wants to sit back and watch the rest of the event unfold with a box of popcorn, if she had popcorn.
"What are you going to do about it, princess?" Jesse questions, less seriousness in his tone. He can sense he's hit a sore spot for the Aubrey and now, he's just messing with her.
"So help me, I will kick you and your little hobbit girlfriend out of my car if you call me that one more time."
"Whoa, we are not dating." Beca says to everyone holding her hands up defensively in front of her, wondering how she got dragged into the argument. Chloe has turned around in her seat now, looking from Jesse to Beca to Aubrey; waiting for who's going to have the next outburst. "We're not dating." Beca clarifies again, looking directly at the redhead. Chloe gives her a confused but sweet smile, accompanied by a nod. Beca mentally slaps herself. Why she looked directly at Chloe and said that she has no clue.
"P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S. Prince…" Jesse starts, only to be interrupted by Chloe. "Wow, Jesse thank you so much for that spelling lesson. It was really great but, uhm, maybe we could just stick to, like, sinning some songs or something."
"Chlo you know I love you and that I think you have a great voice, but if I have to hear you sing another song you'll be out on the side of the road with the hobbit and the hobbit's boyfriend."
"Oh my god, I'm not a fucking hobbit." Beca shouts. She never knew that she had a problem with her height until this very moment in time. The blonde somehow managed to make something she hasn't even given a second thought about, a sore spot. Beca's stomach growls and she realizes that might be the reason the insult is making her so mad. The rational part of her mind tells her she is just starving and exhausted, but the other overwhelming majority is ready for a fight. "And we," Becca starts pointing between her and Jesse for good measure, "are not dating!"
Jesse nods agreeing, then adds, "Yeah, we aren't. Hobbit is not my type." Beca turns and punches Jesse who punches her back. Aubrey starts yelling at them to stop. Now, everyone in the car is shouting at whoever they can think of an insult for. They are teaming up against one another, and then turning on each other seconds after the shortly formed alliances begin. Beca is surprised by her own ability to combine stings of cuss words together and throw them at people. She had burned through her typical go-to's in a couple of minutes and quickly used her resourcefulness to come up with new and better ones. She makes a mental note to thank her high school improve teacher if she ever sees him again.
"Enough!" Chloe yells out, finally having it with all the commotion in the car. She had been sitting back idly, watching and cringing, at the events unfolding but finally reached breaking.
Beca halts halfway through a light punch intended for Jesse, and Aubrey stops mid-yell. The blond hardly ever hears her usually placid best friend yell and is caught completely off-guard. "Thank you." Chloe says, sounding extremely annoyed. "Look we are all tired, we are all hungry…" The redhead continues.
"Yah because someone ate all the food." Aubrey mumbles and Beca finishes her punch she had stopped, hitting Jesse in the arm. The fact that he had managed to eat practically all the food she had gotten for them still makes Beca mad.
"Regardless, I think we need to stop, rest up and figure things out in the morning. We're, like, 10 minutes out from a small city." There are unanimous grumbles of what Chloe's thinks are "Okays" at her idea. The prospect of food and a bed quickly causes everyone to forget about their arguments.
The group appears to be in a slightly better mood and there's a hint of excitement at the idea of getting out of the car. Beca can't wait to stretch her legs and get something to eat, anything. She can't remember the last time she has been this hungry. She could probably eat sushi right now, and like it. A thought she never imagined would cross her mind.
"Bree you need to take this exit." Chloe says.
"You mean the one I just passed, Chlo?"
"I-I think so?" The redhead responds, cringing slightly at the tone in the blonde's voice.
"Oh my god Chloe!" Aubrey yells.
"Well maybe if you didn't drive like a damn speed daemon we would've made the exit!" Chloe yells back. The two friends start bickering about anything and everything while Baca just massages her temples, waiting to be out of the cursed car.
"Ok so they only have one room open, two queen beds. Me and Aubrey," Chloe starts before getting interrupted by the blonde. "Aubrey and I."
Chloe give Aubrey a fake smile to try to hide her anger at her uptight best friend. "Aubrey and I can share a bed. Is it ok for you two to uhm…" Chloe starts but kind of stops towards the end, feeling a little awkward asking the question, not wanting to offend them.
"Of course." Beca replies quickly, seeing the uncomfortable blush on the redhead's cheeks and not wanting her to feel any more uncomfortable then she already does.
"Yah, me and Becs love to cuddle." Jesse says, making sure to emphasize the improper grammar. He slings an arm around his petite friend and squeezes her tightly to him. Beca laughs and pushes Jesse off of her. Aubrey just rolls her eyes and walks away with her suitcase in tow, towards the elevator.
"So, what do you guys think about going to bar, drinking, and getting some insanely greasy food?" Chloe asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the idea.
"I think you might be the girl of my dreams." Jesse says jokingly, and a little too flirtatiously for Beca's liking. Jealousy creeps through her body and she quickly scolds herself. She has no right to be jealous, she has no claim on Chloe. Jesse can flirt with whoever he wants.
Chloe giggles and blushes slightly. "Perfect! Aubrey and I asked if there were any in walking distance when you guys were getting your stuff. Yah know, so we don't have to worry about a DD."
"And?" Jesse asks waiting for Chloe to tell them what the concierge said.
"Oh right. We got lucky and not only is there a bar, like, a block down, but it also has karaoke!" Chloe squeals excitedly.
Normally Beca would groan and say absolutely not to the idea. However, seeing the redhead's excitement, she finds herself smiling instead. They head to the elevator and go up to their room. Aubrey is already in it, her stuff laid on the bed by the air conditioning unit and window. Chloe goes over to it and Aubrey whispers something to her.
"I have them in my bag." Chloe replies loudly, shuffling through her stuff. She pulls out a packet of Lysol wipes and hands them over to her best friend.
"Dude, you can't be serious." Beca says laughing at the blonde.
"Dixie Chic serious." Aubrey answers. Beca raises her eyebrows and watches as the blonde cleans various objects. "Do you know how filthy the remotes are?" Aubrey adds noticing Beca's judgmental gaze. The petite brunette turns to Chloe who simply shrugs.
"Ok, while I don't want to cut your cleaning session short princess, can we get food and drinks?" Jesse asks, already halfway out the door.
After a short walk filled with discussion of how much food they would be consuming, and a small bet to the actual amount in which Jesse will, they arrive at the bar. It's very simple, looking like an over sized shack. If it weren't for the florescent sign saying 'Sally's Saloon: Bar & Grill', Beca would not believe that it wasn't just a big storage shed. Once they approached it, they could hear the voices and music from the curb. Opening the door, they were hit with light and several of dozens of people.
"Sit wherever y'all want." The 50something year old bartender shouts to them.
"Wow, this place is bumpin!" Chloe says to Beca who is standing next to her, absorbing how crowded it is.
"Bumpin?" The brunette asks, eyebrows raised and a smile playing on her lips. The fact the expression even left the Chloe's mouth makes Beca want to laugh. She wonders to herself how the bubbly girl can make any ridiculous expression sound cute.
"Bumpin." Chloe replies smiling and then grabs Beca's arm. There's one table left in the middle of the bar, just steps away from the dance floor. The redhead leads Beca there and then takes a seat directly across from her. "You're such a nerd." Beca says smiling at the redhead, who giggles in response.
Jesse and Aubrey follow them, and the blonde takes the seat next to Chloe. Jesse plops down next to the petite brunette and immediately reaches for the menus wedged between the condiments and drinks list. "I'm telling you guys, I could go through about ten burgers right now."
"We know Jesse, we heard you the other 100 times you said that on the way here." Aubrey teases, clearly less tense then she was in the car.
Right before Jesse can reply, a waitress approaches their table. "What can I get ya ta drink?"
The thick southern accent it evident in her voice, and Beca wonders where they are. The group had been on the road for a while, but Beca and Jesse had been heading north, originally. No real destination, just away from their Midwest hometown.
"One margarita pitcher on the rocks and…" Chloe pauses for a second and looks at Beca, studying her for a moment, and then finishes, "One pitcher of Pabts Blue Ribbon on tap if you have it."
"You're in luck sweetheart, we're one of the only bars within a 100 mile radius that does have that on tap. Don't know why though, not many people order that down in these parts." She says before asking everyone at the table for their IDs. They comply, and the waitress thanks them, starting to walk away.
"Oh and also, it's all on one check." Chloe calls to her and the waitress turns around, giving Chloe a nod.
"Oh you don't have to do that, Jesse and I can foot our half." Beca replies, though it isn't really true. They are tight for cash, having spent the majority of it on gas, food, and lodging over the span of their trip. They are down to their last couple hundred, just enough to pay their hotel room and to fill whatever car they steal next up with gas.
"No I insist. It's the least I can do. If it weren't for you two, Aubrey and I would have been goners in that fight." Chloe says, and it's very true. The Pieter guy who ambushed them had been surprised to see Beca there. There was no way that he was actual after her and Jesse.
"Wow, cute and generous. You just keep getting better and better Chloe….?" Jesse says flirtatiously, leaving the last part open ended.
"Beale, my last names Beale." She responds with a smile as a blush creeps up on her cheeks. Beca feels that same jealousy course through her, and honestly feels like punching her best friend right in the face. She settles for a hard kick to his shin under the table and he lets out an uhmph.
"Well, thank you, Chloe Beale." Jesse says before quickly cutting his eyes at Beca for the kick he just received.
"So, how'd you know I would want beer, let alone Pabst?" Beca asks changing the subject. She wants to get the attention off of Jesse as soon as possible. Beca had never once fought for a girls attention, and this was completely knew territory for her. She couldn't really say she liked it.
"Lucky guess, Beca." Chloe says with a mischievous smirk.
"Did you read my mind? Like you did with that German guy?" Beca questions, a little shocked but mostly curious. She wants to know how this girls powers work, and she's been wanting the opportunity to ask. Beca's never been told a story of someone with multiple powers and is more than a little bit curious.
"I guess we'll never know will we Beca?" Chloe says, playfully winking. If Beca didn't know better she would think that the redhead is flirting. But, from how Chloe has been reacting to Jesse's obvious pickup lines, Beca doubts the redhead would be interested in her.
The waitress comes back to the table with their pitchers and takes their order. Aubrey gets a grilled chicken salad, Beca decides on a burger, and Chloe matches Beca's order. However, with the encouragement of Aubrey, Jesse orders their big mouth burger challenge, which consists of eating a four pound burger in one hour. Making it would take 45 minutes so they settle on drinking to pass the time.
"Guys, we are going to get trashed if we drink this on empty stomachs." Aubrey worries, looking hesitantly at her glass. Chloe obviously having no qualms about it, filled her and her friend's glasses to the brim with margarita from the pitcher.
"Have a peanut then." Jesse says, scooting the bucket filled with the nuts to her. She grabs one and breaks the shell, then pops it in her mouth. "Oh all better. You're my hero Jesse." The blonde retorts sarcastically. Jesse laughs at her and his eyes linger on hers for a moment. Aubrey raises her eye brows at him and he quickly looks away.
"Just loosen up Bree! We're in walking distance from our hotel and in a group! Who cares?" Chloe exclaims before taking a large swig of her drink.
"So when are you going to get on the stage and give everyone a performance, Beale?" Beca jokes drinking her cold beer. It's just how she likes it and something she hasn't had in a while. She almost wants to drink slowly to savor it, almost.
"Not yet Beca! This ginger needs her jiggle juice." The redhead says before draining the content of her first glass. "Plus I need my partner up on the stage with me!" Chloe yells and turns expectantly to Aubrey.
"Oh no, that is not happening." Aubrey replies stiffly, before raising her glass to her lips, intending to take only a small sip. The next thing she knows, Chloe has a finger on the bottom of it and is raising it up. The blonde has no choice but to drink until her glass is finished, so she doesn't spill it all over herself. Everyone is laughing and Aubrey just rolls her eyes playfully at Chloe, joining in with them.
"I give her two more and then she'll be running that stage." Chloe says and Aubrey shakes her head, assuring everyone that she will, in fact, not be. "Ok, Bree, if that's what you think." Chloe teases and then shakes her head to Beca, covering the side of her face and mouthing 'lightweight'. The small brunette smiles, being able to see Aubrey as a lightweight. It honestly strikes Beca as a bit of a surprise that the uptight girl even drinks.
Aubrey and Jesse begin discussing something that Beca can't quite make out. She hears the name Wes Anderson and then the words score and cinematography. She assumes they are talking about some movie that Jesse likes and is glad that Aubrey appears to be able to hold a conversation on the subject. Usually Beca just sits there nodding and grunting while day dreaming. The brunette looks around the table, happy to see everyone is loosening up. Some of it can be attributed to finally being free from the car, but Beca knows it's mostly because of the alcohol coursing through them.
Chloe makes sure that everyone's glass is constantly full, while she herself is drinking everyone under the table. Aubrey is four glasses in when Chloe exclaims, "I'm going to put our names in for karaoke Bree!"
Chloe and Aubrey have already gone through one pitcher and are working their way through their second. Beca is amazed that the two girls are going drink for drink with her and Jesse, especially since the margaritas have a higher alcohol content. However, Beca has definitely had more than her fare share tonight and is definitely feeling it.
"Whoooo!" Aubrey yells, throwing her hands happily in the air. Beca begins cracking up, the blonde's reaction seeming ten times funnier to her then it probably would normally.
"What's so funny Alt-girl?" Aubrey teases with a very slight slur. Beca can't sense a bit of malice in the blondes tone, which may be a first.
"You are." Beca replies continuing to laugh and then Jesse also joins in. By the end of it, they are all in fits, laughing at something they can't even remember.
"I want to thank you all for coming tonight." They hear Chloe's voice echoing through the bar. There are a few people who clap at her statement. Chloe raises her hand, almost comically, to hush the crowd, as if the whole place had erupted in to cheers. "Now, I want to bring my best friend in the whole wide world on stage to help me with this. Aubrey Posen, get your hot ass up here." Chloe says, and Beca starts to laugh again. The redhead is more than clearly drunk.
Aubrey jumps out of her seat and walks up towards the stage. On her way she turns to a table mouthing 'that's me' and pointing to herself. Jesse and Beca turn to each other and start laughing harder. Chloe sticks out her hand and somehow manages to help the blonde on to the stage with her. She hands Aubrey the other mic.
"Ok so we are going to be performing our rendition of Gloria Estefan's, Turn the Beat Around." Chloe says and Beca can hear Aubrey give a countdown. The music begins and Chloe and Aubrey start their performance. The whole thing is choreographed and everyone is hooting and hollering at it. The girls are harmonizing so perfectly that Beca is in honestly shocked. Chloe takes the final high note and hits it flawlessly. When their song ends, the entire bar is on their feet, giving them a standing ovation.
"We know them!" Jesse yells to the table next to him and then returns to cheering.
"Thank you, Thank you!" Aubrey says into the mic, bowing.
Chloe simply holds the mic out in front of her and then drops it. It makes a horrendous squeaking noise, but everyone just cheer louder. Aubrey hurriedly picks up Chloe's mic and puts it back in the stand, her controlling nature taking over.
The duo hop off the stage hand in hand and Chloe skips back, dragging Aubrey along with her. Once they approach the table, Chloe looks at Beca smiling. "How was that for a performance?"
"I'm impressed Red. I didn't know you had all that in you." Beca replies honestly. She had decided to stop drinking, not wanting to become too sloppy. Beca didn't like to get too drunk. It made her vulnerable, and she never opted to do something that makes her that.
"Oh there are a lot of things you don't know about me, brown." Chloe offers up, with a wink. The redhead is definitely feeling all those margaritas she drank on an empty stomach.
"We'll work on nicknames later Ms. Drunky Pants." Beca replies, slightly taken aback by the girls flirty pass. She chalks it up to the margaritas, and the bubbly girl's friendly nature.
"Becaw, Becaw!" Jesse yells to his friend, trying to get her attention. Beca rolls her eyes, knowing he is officially drunk. That's his favorite way to call her name when he's had a few too many.
"What Jesse?" Beca asks, slight annoyance creeping into her voice because he's interrupting her conversation with Chloe.
"You should get up there and perform! Like you used to senior year of high school when you drank too many Smirnoff Ices and Titanium would come on at a party." Jesse urges, knowing that Beca will be embarrassed by that part of her past being brought up. There was a time in Beca's life when she was a little less pessimistic, before everything happened. She would sometimes make a fool of herself, on a few occasions when she went to a party and got drunk.
"Not going to happen Swanson." She replies and he laughs, saying something along the line of I told you so to Aubrey.
"Can you sing Beca?" Chloe asks after Beca and Jesse finish their conversation.
"Nope." Beca replies quickly, trying to completely avoid the subject. She doesn't like to singing in front of other people. There is something vulnerable and intimate about singing for her; she doesn't like to share it in front of a bunch of strangers.
"Will you sing for me sometime?" Chloe asks innocently.
"No."
"Please, Beca." Chloe whines, and Beca finds herself beginning to give into the redhead. Knowing the drunk ginger will not give up her persistence on the matter, and that Beca can't seem to say no to Chloe again, she relents.
"Sometime."
"So does that mean you guys are coming back with us?" Chloe asks excitedly. The petite woman has no idea where that question came from, or where back even is. However, with the amount Chloe has had to drink, Beca doesn't even want to try and figure it out. Truth be told, Beca hasn't put much thought into where she and Jesse are going to end up. She also hasn't even thought about where their journey ends with the two new girls.
"Uh, I don't know, Chloe. We haven't really thought about it." Beca replies awkwardly, not knowing how to address the situation. She hadn't really been officially invited past the point they are at now and Beca has never been one to impose. Unless she has a formal verbal invite, she does not participate.
"I like it better when you call me nicknames." A very drunken Chloe pouts. It makes Beca laugh because she has a theory that when people get drunk, they revert back to acting like kids. They have no control over their emotions and they talk loudly, especially when speaking whatever inappropriate things come to their minds. The redhead in front of her is no different, arms folded across her chest and bottom lip pushed out.
"Ok, Little Einstein, what are you six?" Beca asks.
"Oh can I be that one that sings all the time?" Chloe asks excitedly, forgetting that she was upset in the slightest.
"What? Yah, sure." Beca replies, having no idea what she is talking about. Of course she knows what The Little Einstein's is, but just enough for reference sake, not for bringing up specific details.
Noticing Beca's confusion, Chloe gets nervous. She doesn't want Beca to think she sits around watching kid shows, but she doesn't want to bring up the reason she knows them so well. Feeling that the need to explain herself outweighs the need to keep her memories at bay, Chloe offers up her explanation. "Younger brother."
Beca notices how the redhead's voice has lost its usual bubbliness and the spark has left her eyes. She hears pain in Chloe's words instead and doesn't know how to respond. The girl had been so happy but now, she looks on the verge of tears. There's a complexity to the statement that the redhead just made, and it is too much for Beca's drunk mind to process. She doesn't know whether to ask Chloe what's wrong, or just leave her be. She doesn't even know what made the ginger sad. The brunette is trying to think of something to say right when the food arrives.
"Holy shit Jesse, there's no way you're going to be able to eat all of that." Chloe yells, trying to hide her pain from the tongue-tied Beca, feeling awkward. Chloe knows that Beca picked up on her sadness, and she is going to try double time to make the brunette forget.
Beca looks on as the group eats their food and teases each other, but mostly she observes Chloe. The redhead seems to be smiling larger, making sure to laugh at everything the loudest and to throw attention to other people in the group. It's very clearly an act, one that the ginger is very familiar with. There is much more to the redhead then Beca originally thought, but that doesn't make her like her any less.
After what feels like an eternity of Jesse complaining and grumbling, everyone finishes their food. To the group's genuine surprise, Jesse manages to eat all his burger in under the allotted time. Beca chalks it up to his insanely high metabolism and he gets his picture taken and put on the wall.
"A free burger and forever commemorated on the wall of fame, life doesn't get any better." Jesse yells once they get outside. Beca is at the rear of the group, waiting for Chloe who decided to strike up a conversation with the waitress. The fresh, brisk air hits Beca's face and sobers her up slightly. She is easily the least inebriated, but that is not saying much. Chloe finally stumbles out and they begin their drunken stagger back to the hotel. Jesse and Aubrey are leaning heavily on each other for support and Beca is helping Chloe, who is insisting on playing R. Kelly's 'Remix to Ignition' on repeat until they get back to the hotel.
"You're weird, you know that?" Beca asks, smiling at a rapping Chloe halfway through the walk.
"It's the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen," Is Chloe's only response as she holds her phone up even higher in the air. Beca just laughs and continues to usher the redhead long, arm around her waist, making sure she doesn't stroll off. She could definitely get used to having Chloe around. Beca didn't like many people, but somehow the redhead had already managed to make the small list of people who she did.
Sorry for the extremely late update! I will try to be more frequent with the rest of the chapters! Thank you all so much for the kind reviews!